Blue Washington

Edgar "Blue" Washington (12 February 1898 – 15 September 1970), was an American actor and played in the Negro leagues for a few years as a pitcher for the Chicago American Giants and the Los Angeles White Sox, and played first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs.

Blue Washington
Born	February 26, 1898 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 15, 1970(1970-09-15) (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1919-1961

He appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1957, mostly playing small, uncredited roles as a porter, a bartender, an African native (as in King Kong (1933) and Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949), a cook, a chauffeur, a ship's crew member, a Nubian slave, and a doorman. Some of his characters had names such as "Ulambo", "Sambo" (sambo) and "Hambone". In the 1933 film Haunted Gold, he portrayed Clarence, John Wayne's comic sidekick.

He was given the nickname "Blue" by film director Frank Capra when both were kids. Washington's son, Kenny Washington, a standout athlete at UCLA where he was a teammate of Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in the NFL in 1946.